Congregation Beth Israel
President’s Rosh Hashanah Remarks
September 2011
L’shana Tovah. I’m Kevin Lewis, the President of Congregation Beth Israel, and it is my great pleasure to welcome you to our High Holy Day services ushering in the year 5772. I want to wish each of you a happy and healthy new year, and I’d like to extend a wish for God’s blessing for those in our families who can’t be with us tonight. I’d also like to wish a happy new year to Rabbis Lyon, Scott and Miller, Cantor Mutlu and their families, together with my thanks for all that they do to lead us spiritually throughout the year.
Now I have something to say that you may never have heard in a president’s Rosh Hoshana greeting: I’m delighted to have seen so many of you here at services over the last several months! Our summer services in the Chapel were crowded – sometimes standing room only. And just a month ago we had a Jazz Shabbat service at which almost a thousand people attended. For the first time I can remember, we had folks parking on the grass at a service that wasn’t on the High Holy Days. The atmosphere at these events was simply refreshing; the sense of community borne out of a shared spiritual journey was palpable.
These are happy events to report, and they are just the most obvious of many indicators that this is a time of spiritual renewal at Beth Israel. I hope you can hear it and feel it for yourself today, tomorrow and on Yom Kippur. There are other signs of renewal. Our Sisterhood has dramatically increased its membership, including women in their 30s and 40s. Meanwhile our Brotherhood helped organize a massive citywide chili cook-off this past winter, and recently screened a film about Jews in baseball. If you haven’t considered getting involved in these organizations lately, you should.
But bear with me as I explain in a bit more detail what I mean as I toss around claims of “renewal.” At these High Holy Day services, we will offer a mixture of prayers for what is to be, and prayers over what has already come to pass. Likewise, our spiritual renewal at Beth Israel combines a focus on what we need for tomorrow with a regard for our tradition and for those who do not need or necessarily want change. And so when Cantor Mutlu, accompanied by our choir, fills this sacred space with song, we hear the beauty of his still unfamiliar voice within the grace of familiar prayers and melodies. Add the cadences of Rabbis Lyon, Miller and Scott to which we are so accustomed, and we know that we are at home. But just as we all pass through stages of life, our spiritual home continues to evolve before our eyes. Our embrace of both change and continuity is reflected right on our masthead, as we proudly headline Rabbi Lyon and Cantor Mutlu, and just as proudly include Rabbi Emeritus Karff and Cantor Emeritus Gerber.
Speaking of Cantor Gerber, I should mention that he sends his regards from Maryland, where he is officiating over these holidays, and you should know that he was here for the Jazz Shabbat and told me that he loved it.
In my message last Rosh Hashanah, I mentioned that there is a certain nobility that comes simply from surviving. (I must admit that the older I get, the more I like that line.) After the continuity of our Torah and prayers that link us to hundreds of generations past, our second most important tradition may be the collective commitment of our fellow congregants over the past seven generations. And we know that these two traditions are inextricably linked. We cannot keep faith with one without the other. Notwithstanding – or maybe because of – the remarkable openness of our society, we need to remember that our responsibility to support the congregation traces its lineage to the Torah; and thus is distinguished from all of our other charitable giving opportunities. And so, to address our long-term financial security, this year the Beth Israel Endowment Fund will launch the Ner Tamid Society, through which our congregants will be asked to remember Beth Israel in their wills. In this way, the congregation that shepherded us through our stations in life can be sustained to shepherd our children and grandchildren. In addressing our short term circumstances, we recognize that this stubborn recession continues to afflict our community and, as we all know, Beth Israel will never turn away a congregant for lack of financial resources. Thus, we depend on those of you who are financially secure to increase your fair share dues voluntarily, to give to our Share the Load program, a brochure for which is included with your prayer books, and to donate to the Annual Fund drive that we will begin next year. At the end of the day, how much you support Beth Israel is a matter of where your financial ability and your conscience meet. For those who are able, I hope these High Holy Day services move that intersection toward greater generosity towards our congregation.
Fellow congregants, faith matters. We wouldn’t be here if we didn’t think it did. And we have come here – that is, we have come home – as a testimony to that idea. So let’s welcome each other this evening and, as we prepare to walk through the gates of worship together, recommit ourselves to strengthening the community that surrounds us right now by strengthening our ties to it. As Beth Israel’s spiritual renewal washes over you in the coming hours, as our clergy refreshes for you the timeless message of our faith, I hope you will look again at what your venerable old Beth Israel has to offer. I think you’ll like what you find. From me and my family to you and yours, l’shana tovah, and welcome home.
